"If you can't get them out of high school then go get them out of the portal" is something I've said multiple times on podcasts concerning football players from the state of Missouri. We've seen this phenomenon with Mookie Cooper, Nathaniel Peat, Joe Moore III, Cayden Green, Sterling Webb, and Toriano Pride, and now we see it once again.
Kevin Coleman was the #1 player in the state of Missouri for the 2022 recruiting class (because Luther Burden was in Illinois playing for East St. Louis) and has taken a very circuitous route to arrive in Columbia.
Coming out of high school he was a rare blue chip to commit to not only an FCS program, but an HBCU (Deion Sander's Jackson State). Deion took the Colorado job and elected not to bring Coleman with him, so our boy Kevin then spent a season at Louisville before spending the 2024 campaign for the disastrous first season of Jeff Lebby's Mississippi State squad.
But, through all of those stops, Coleman has proven one thing: he's a pretty freakin' good slot receiver.
Let's investigate!
Where He Fits: The dude is a prototypical slot receiver in build and style so that's most likely the position he'll play. He's about the same height as Luther Burden while being roughly 25 pounds lighter, and as a reflection of that build discrepancy he's more of a "make guys miss" receiver rather than "absorb the hit and keep going" receiver that Burden is.
At every stop he has been used as a slot receiver, an occasional runner, and a punt returner, the last two I would define as being "fine" rather than "outstanding". But, as you can see in the table above, he has improved his catch percentage every year and made a huge leap in production last year when he was essentially a featured violin virtuoso in a jug band. His yards per catch and yards per target are better in every single year when you compare them to Burden's production, and scored the same amount of touchdowns last year as Burden did.
He's been effective at every level and been just as effective (if not better) as Burden year to year. Yeah, I think he's going to fit in quite well as Mizzou's new slot.
When He'll Play: He's a senior transferring to a school that has a position of need. The answer is "immediately".
What It All Means: The Drinkwitz/Moore offense needs effective slot receiver play to parter with the punishing ground game and Mizzou has their next slot receiver. It's a local blue chip talent that finally made his way back to the hometown school. It's another great story and another great portal win for the good guys.